Ghost

We’ve all had our strange encounters in life. Some of us claim to be disturbed by a being who failed to move on to another life, some claim there are psychopathic killers in their basement. Me, I have the worst of all in my own home. Something that haunts me day and night, but my family fails to see it. There is a ghost in my home.

​It started when I returned home from school in March. I threw my backpack on the floor and walked over to my cupboard to change out of my uniform, but when I opened the doors I was greet with soldier who was covered in mud with a similar tone to my cupboard.

He started at me with wide, panicked eyes and he flattened himself against the back of my cupboard even more.

“Mom, there is a ghost in my cupboard!” I yelled towards the stairs, more confused than scared.

“A what?” she called back.

“A special unit of soldier who has not country to call home,” I told her.

“Stop playing so many video games!”

I narrowed my eyes. It always came down to playing too much video games with them. You’d think if they would actually listen to me once in a while they would see something. I looked back at the ghost and he looked back at me with crazy eyes.

“Wait here,” I told him as I walked over to my backpack and collected my phone.

When I returned I took some photos of him and walked down the stairs to show my mother. She would have to believe me when I show her the pictures, afterall, she couldn’t be too full of herself to not look at a picture.

Shooting down the stairs I arrived at the kitchen to find my mother sipping tea while reading the newspaper. In the kitchen were three other ghosts, one laying on the table, the other sat in the sink and had attached himself to the refrigerator wall.

“Uh...mom?” I murmured.

She looked up and placed her teacup on the ghost who was laying on the table’s forehead. He didn’t seem to react, but then I could see his eyes twitch as the heat sunk in.

“What is it, sweety?” mother asked looking away from the newspaper.

“...nothing. I was going to show you something, but nevermind.”

“Alright then. Did you do your homework?”

I shook my head and walked back to the stairs. It seemed I was the only sane one left in my home. However, I stopped outside my door when I heard voices.

“Alright, ghosts,” one whispered. “Operation is a go. We are not to be seen, use any method you see fit to avoid contact. Remember, if we die in the field nobody will care, so be sure to watch your six when nobody has you covered.”

“Sir, this cup is burning a hole in my head,” another replied through a walkie-talkie.

“Nothing we didn’t prepare for in training. You got this.”

I barged into the room to find the first ghost sitting in a clay pot wearing a ghillie suit.

“Alpha going dark,” he whispered into his mic and remained still, staring at me with those crazy eyes.

I eyed the man with a strange form of contempt, but they weren’t do anything dangerous, aside from trespassing. Keeping a close eye on the ghost I approached him and sat down in front of him.

“You do realize that I see you, Alpha,” I told him.

He didn’t move, but his eyes widened a little and he shifted uncomfortably in the clay pot.

“You’re just  proper lunatic, you and your men,” I told him. “You break into someone's home and think you are invisible?”

“It worked on your mother.”

At this point Alpha placed a hand on his mouth while one of his men cursed over the comm.

“I got you know,” I told him. “Get out of my home and find some other kid to bother, I need to do my homework.”

With that, I stood up and marched over to my desk. Sitting down I took out my books while the Alpha ghost tried to sidle between my chair and bed professionally and towards the door.

“And if I see you again you will be reported to the government and excommunicated!” I called after him as he left.

“What did you say?” my mother asked offended.

“Not you, mom!” I told her.

The day was nearing its conclusion and I spent most of it glued to the computer screen. It was almost therapeutic because I was slowly forgetting the strange set of circumstances that my haunting involved. I clicked and tapped and the noise of the computer game filled my mind and I was lost to the world

That is when I heard a stumbling noise behind me as someone tripped over my schoolbag and hit the ground with a clumsy thud. I dared not turn around to see what it was, but I got my answer anyway when I heard military lingo.

“Alpha, Charlie is down and out!” one yelled.

“Can you move in for revive?” Alpha whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

“I’m going in!” another yelled as he dove towards my desk in the darkness.

“Delta, no!”

More smashing and stumbling as people dove around trying to continue their mission.

“You know…” I began and the noise fell silent. “Instead of trashing my room and generally making my life a confused mess, you could join me seeing as I have room in the squad for a few more.”

I turned and looked at the four ghosts as they were in a dog pile of tactical warfare. The four looked at each other then back at me. Twenty minutes later we were completing a mission together in the video game rather than my bedroom.

“Alpha, why don’t you have a suppressor equipped?” Bravo asked.

“It lowers the penetration, leave me with this tactical advantage, will ya?” Alpha replied.

“You guys are so damaged,” I murmured as we played through the night.